I was looking them over and they are starting to get a bit out of date,
almost four years later. I have inserted some items to make things a bit
more contemporary below:

V. Kiteboarding Clubs and Associations [top]

A. Why are they important?

Kiteboard Clubs and Associations have been formed to promote safety and continued access to beaches and launches for kiteboarding, for competitions, social activities and more. Our numbers are mounting by the month and incidents and accidents are also becoming more frequent. Some launches are imposing restrictions or are thinking about doing so. Associations and clubs act to serve the interests of the kiteboarding community and advocate and negotiate issues important to riders. They provide local leadership and a point of contact for officials that might have concerns regarding this sport. Clubs and Associations distribute and promote safe kiteboarding guidelines to improve safety and to aid in maintaining access.

B. How to form a kiteboarding club?

It is relatively easy to form a kiteboarding club. Start with some goals,
get the word out, discuss local issues and solutions with other riders and
you are on your way. More details follow:

1. Figure out the goals of the club and area of coverage. What problems exist locally? What parties are complaining and to whom? Who are your local leading riders that people look up to? Who are folks in the public sector (lifeguards, rangers, police, fire, EMTs, etc.) that kiteboard or are interested in starting? It would be good to get them onboard with your desire to organize early and to assist those interested in our sport in a big way (free lessons, gear discounts, etc.). Who are the leading figures in the public sector that you need to bring your concerns to in working to preserve access. Are there riders in your area who know these individuals or know people of influence with the folks in the public sector.

2. Have some preliminary casual meetings among riders including some of the leaders. Discuss apparent problems, possible solutions/guidelines/ideas for enforcement and plan a more general meeting for riders.

3. Setup an initial general riders meeting with a fixed date and time.
Circulating a written announcement with a short itinerary would be a good
idea.

4. Discuss local issues including launches, problem areas for resolution,
improved procedures and potential local safe kiteboarding guidelines that
are as simplistic as possible but still address the issues. Identify an
individual or a group of riders who will write the local guidelines. Having
a framework of issues and possible solutions can help kick your initial
meeting off to a productive start. If deligation of tasks is in order
figure out what those tasks are, ideal attributes for the delegates carrying
the ball and be prepared to seek volunteers at your meeting(s).

4a. Are there launches to avoid at certain times, always? What are they
and why avoid them? Try to build consensus on these points.

5. Circulate the draft guidelines for comments and modification before
finalizing them. Distribute the final guidelines to the membership. Some
general guideline ideas appear at: http://fksa.org/viewtopic.php?t=478

6. Try to promote awareness of the guidelines and compliance with them.

Encourage members to approach and tactfully discuss the guidelines IN A
GROUP for best effect with other riders and those that might not be
following suitable practices. Work hard not to setup one or two individuals
as "kite cops." It is a thankless job and one prone to burnout and failure.
It is a group need, it should be a group activity, if you want it to work.
If there are hard cases and there often are, talk creatively among
yourselves for ideas and tactics to try.

C. How To Form a Kiteboarding Association

One approach that has been used for the formation of kiteboarding
associations in the USA appears below.

1. Talk with other kiteboarders, kiteboarding retailers, lifeguards and
park rangers about concerns they have about kiteboarders, kiteboarding
access, specific incidents, ongoing problems, etc. Make a list of concerns, potential restrictions and problems to be resolved.

2. Create a website, there are quite a few phpBB blogs popping up all
over in this regard. Post the creation of your group on other existing
kiteboarding lists and spread the word through kiteboarders and kiteboard retailers in your area.

3. One approach includes identifying potential area coordinators (ACs), in your area or state. ACs could be people involved in the kiteboarding business, retailers and instructors as well as other experienced, concerned kiteboarders. Initially the AC volunteers would be responsible for helping to write and comment upon area specific safe kiteboarding guidelines, distributing them to local kiteboarders in their areas, encouraging membership in the kiteboarding group and warning the group in advance of potential kiteboarding access problems. ACs may be individuals already involved with local kiteboarding groups. ACs would be encouraged to form and participate in local kiteboarding chapters of the association. At some point assistant ACs can be designated and committees formed to aid in association goals and functions.

4. Circulate the draft area specific kiteboarding guidelines among the
ACs that address unique local conditions and restrictions. Finalize the
area specific guidelines and post them in the Ã¢â‚¬Å¾FilesÃ¢â‚¬Â° section of the list
site.

5. Solicit volunteers to help with website creation and the services of an
attorney to aid with the formation of a nonprofit corporation. A nonprofit
corporation "may" provide some liability protections to the
leadership/officers of the association.

7. Select directors or officers for the initial non-profit corporation.
Once membership has been built to a sufficient level elections can be held for the continuing designation of officers.

8. Example By-laws and Articles for Incorporation appear in another
file on this site (pending).

9. A nonprofit corporation will aid to the collection of tax free membership
fees and will provide some protection to organization officers by the
Ã¢â‚¬Å¾corporate shieldÃ¢â‚¬Â°. A federal tax id number should be obtained. At some point after formation form 1023, Application for Recognition of Exemption should be files (see http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/k1023.pdf). The volunteer services of a CPA or attorney would be helpful in the preparation of this filing.

10. Once the nonprofit corporation has been formed actual paid membership could be sought.

11. Collection of annual dues to permit the formation of a Ã¢â‚¬Å¾war chestÃ¢â‚¬Â° and
to help to defray costs is encouraged.

12. It will be necessary to obtain a checking account in the name of the
nonprofit entity and a Post Office Box for mail.

14. Solicit merchant members such as gear retailers and schools of your
association and club. Good reciprocal relationships can be built where the merchant members can support events and receive good exposure to the riding community.

Thanks, I wish you folks all the best in regaining access to ride. Designated launches have successfully been used in various heavily populated areas around the world where beach use is high. Places like Rio de Janeiro, Lower Kanaha Beach in Maui, Ft. Lauderdale in Florida and many other places.

Key to the process is building a credible case/need with the authorities, crafting a set of rules for sustainable access and effectively motivating riders to comply with them. Memberships that could be lost can be one possible means of motivating riders to comply. The designated launch often is a fairly confined setup and launch/landing channel. Guys need to get offshore beyond the exclusion zone (often around 100 m +) and stay out until time to come in. If you have a narrow staging area on the beach, you may need to parallel park kites with lines wrapped up on bars. If coast conditions support the practice (depths and waves), doing assisted launches and landings in the shallows can further extend things. Not everyone will be able to ride in tightly confined designated launches, i.e. guys learning to stay upwind. They will not be able to stay within the channel. Hopefully, resources will be available for new kiters to develop skills, things like chase boats for staging sessions offshore or other less populated/contested beach areas. Critical to all of this is working to tactfully keep bystanders out of the setup and launching channel. It can and has been made to work in various parts of the world. Good luck again!

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